Gretzky has been doing quite well lately after his motivational tracks.  He does get distracted, so I had planned to put more tracks under his harness before I tried to certify him.  But a local test, Chuckanut Dog Training Association, had not yet filled and it closes in few days, so I arranged for a certification try with a local judge Jan Wesen who just happens to be the club's president.

​Overnight it had gotten down in the teens and the ground was still frozen when we started the track at 9:30.  The field puddles that I was concerned about had frozen over, so he would not have to wade through deep puddles.  But then, we had only tracked on frozen ground once in his short career.  

​Gretzky started nicely for the first five feet and then found a clump to lift his leg which allowed him to notice the troll in the field behind us (all Westies think other people in the field are trolls).  He followed the first leg with frequent detours to check out old scent or pee marks, watched Jan, but kept going back to work on the first leg.  Near the end of the first leg, we crunched over the ice which was a new experience for him.  He circled at the corner rather than go back and forth, spent time watching Jan, but after re-scenting him, he went out a leg to the left that tried to split the distance between two puddles.  He was confident and I followed.

​Partway down the second leg, he noticed Jan again and really fixated on her for quite a while but went back to the leg.  He went forward and when he broke off, it turns out I was on the corner and he was 20' beyond.  Again he fixated on Jan, but kept circling although not very deep to the right.  I knew it could keep going straight or go right but not left.  Finally, I reeled him in and re-scented him.  He went right out to the right and showed confidence as I let the line slip through my hands.  He was looking so confident it was pretty to watch.  We had only gone 40-ish yards went he did an open bend to the right - has he found some contamination and switched tracks?  No, Jan had bent the track to avoid another puddle ahead.  He kept his tracking posture so I followed him.  Another bend and more following.  

​Gretzky handled the third corner within a few seconds and was off running so I tried to keep up.  A fourth corner was open and he again handled it in just a few seconds of reaching it.  He was increasing speed and I was having trouble keeping up so our light-comfortable-tension increased significantly.  He approached the glove, stopped several seconds, and was ready to follow the tracklayer out of the field when I caught up with him and started his foodless but fun party.  Yippee!  He really did a great job dealing with the frozen ground and the pesky distracting troll who followed us.  At the end, he got to run up and greet her which was great fun.

7_14 Two U's at 50 & 65 minutes

​Given Gretzky is now certified and I am entering him in a TD test just 13 days from now, there are several things I want to work on for the remainder of this week.  Next week will be a very light week so he is fresh and eager for his test track.  But this week I can still try to build some needed skills such as age, and familiarity with the test field terrain and typical distractions.  Today will be age.

Of course, in the cold wet weather we have having in February around here, tracks will not be aging as fast as they would in warmer-dryer conditions, but the test is nearby in space and time so it should work for his current training.  So I plotted two U-shaped tracks and laid them in one order and ran them in the opposite order.  The first was 50 minutes old when I started it and the second was a little older than the target 70 minutes.  I had noticed a very large flock of robins flitting around the property the day before - there must be something they like around here.

​Gretzky started with confidence, noticed the birds flitting around, and wanted to chase them.  He was willing to go back to the track, but we had many places along the first track that he paused, stared at them and wanted to bolt after them.  But after 15-30 seconds, he was willing to go back to the track and he could re-find it quickly and with confidence.  He overshoot the first corner while being distracted by a robin but circled back and found it.  The second corner was straight-forward for him and we had a long fun party at the glove.

​Track 2 was better in that there were fewer birds flitting around it.  He overshoot corner 1 again and circled a couple of times before committing to leg 2.  The fence-line just past corner 2 pulled him over but he circled out, fringed the last leg and converged with it about 30 yards out the leg.

A Thousand Swans a Chattering

​One of the fields that might be used in the test is home to a huge flock of swans this winter.  While I am no bird expert, others have called them swans although there may well be some Snow Geese mixed in with them.  Regardless, big white birds who leave behind very large Tootsie Roll Treats which some dogs find delectable.  They feed on the roots and stems of the silage grass which has been very wet this winter as well as feed off the bottom of the field puddles.  The result is the grass leaves are all combed-up as well as heavily trampled by their web feet.  So unusual conditions for many dogs including Gretzky.  The Swans had been all over the field but congregating on the left half of the track (as pictured below).  When I laid it, they flew past the dirt road on the left, and were mostly in that position when we returned to run the track.

​I laid the track and ran it in about an hour, combining both the unusual ground cover with aging more than Gretzky had experienced on a full TD.  Gretzky was aware of the Swans in the distance when we started but seemed very willing to get started so we did.  He handled that leg nicely and made a nice corner to the right although somewhat to the side of the leg 2.  On this leg, he got interested in the Tootsie Rolls but instead of trying to eat them, he seemed content to over-mark them.  So there was some wandered to the side on leg 2.  He circled widely on corner 2 but picked up leg 3 and continued to over-mark what the swans left.  After the intermediate article, he started to fixate on some swans on the far side of the frozen field puddle who were start out onto the pond concerned about him (both he and they are white, so who knows what they thought).  But they stayed away and Gretzky got back to work.  Once he made corner 3, he was moving faster and with more confidence.  In the region of the last corner, which was where the swans had been congregating when I started to lay the track, he again got distracted by their leavings and may have delicately sampled a particularly gourmet fresh one.  "Back to the track!", re-scent, and he was off and to the glove in no time. 

​So while I had to restrain and anchor Gretzky several times when he was distracted by the birds themselves or wanted to go too far afield to over-mark the Tootsie Rolls, it was a good training session.​

8A.2 TD in Pasture

​This session is to focus on Gretzky tracking in a clumpy pasture where the scent will pool down channels between the clumps of grass and offer opportunities for the dog to get off the track.  It was a cold afternoon, very windy, and a light-dry snow started to fall as I was laying it.  I also wanted to age it to an hour again as I hoped Gretzky would be more confident on it than he had been on the swan track the day before.

​There had been little snow accumulation by the time we reached the start flag but the wind had continued to pick up and was perhaps 30 mph from our rear on the first leg.  Gretzky started nicely, found some contamination (coyotes) mid-leg but choose to go on by himself.  He showed loss of scent right after the first corner, circled to the right, came into where I was standing, and when forward.  He did that a couple of times before he circled to the left, noticed something in the cow path that had been used for the second leg but did not commit to it.  He circled back forward and started to wander to the end of his line forward following the first leg plume.  I restrained him slightly and he circled back 270 until he came to the second leg and took it nicely.  By the time he reached the second corner, he was in the groove and stayed in the cow path so again I had to restrain him when he was perhaps 60' past the corner.  He circled nicely and found the next leg behind me and committed.  The rest of the track was accomplished with confidence.

​While having to restrain him on two corners is not ideal shortly before a test, the test did not fill so I am not keeping anyone else from having a test track.  So I can hope conditions are good on test day even though Bow is noted for its wind and storms on tracking test days.

8.3 TD-like in a Snowy Field

​There was a couple of inches of fresh snow on the ground but it had cleared up and was sunny, cold, and windy.  The top half of the grass clumps poked out of the snow, so it was not a solid covering.  This would be the last "challenging" track before Gretzky test in 8 days.  Gretzky had tracked in the snow last fall but not recently, so snow might be one challenge but most dogs find it easy (also handlers typically like being able to see the footprints clearly).  So I decided to age it 50 minutes as a second "minor" challenge.  And to do a different design, I constrained myself to six 75-yard legs so it became the shape shown below.

​As we approached the start flag, I expect the neighborhood dogs to start barking loudly but apparently they were inside for a rare change.  So we had a quiet field with no recent contamination and no visual distractions.  Gretzky started nicely casting a little bit as he got used to the snowy conditions but settled into the track.  He showed loss-of-scent clearly shortly after each corner, searched with purpose, and committed to the next leg.  No real drama anywhere on the track and lots of fun playing at the glove.

8A.4 Pre-test Motivational Track

​As I recommend in the book, the week before a test should be very light tracking so the dog will be anxious to track on test day.  The previous track (above) was on a Saturday a week before the test.  This session was a motivational track on the Thursday before the test.

​The track was about 260 yards long with four legs and three corners, one of them open.  I laid it in a very quiet park that I had never taken Gretzky to before.  The only activity was a farmer working the grass in another field.  It was a cloudy cold winter weekday after all.  I aged it just 30 minutes.

​Gretzky did great.  He started confidently, stayed focused on the track, quickly searched at each corner, and committed nicely to each leg.

Test Day

Bow, WA is noted for its strong winds and heavy rains on test day.  But this Sunday was beautiful - cool, partly cloudy, with little wind.  A perfect day for tracking.

We drew track 5 of 9 which meant we would not be on the primary swan field (yippee).  The judges were giving each dog lots of time to work out their issues but none of the first four dogs passed.  So Gretzky's track was probably a little more than a hour old when we started which should be fine.

​He was quite wild when he got out of the car and wanted to go up to the judges and play.  As we approached the start flag, he pulled ahead and sniffed the sock.  I changed the line from his collar to his harness, waited about 10 seconds for him to memorize the scent, and he was off.  He was very quick to commit to the track even though he did quick leg lifts on many clumps of grass as we passed them on the track.  The first leg was long (perhaps 200 yards) heading straight for a house in the distance and Gretzky kept focused on it with just a few detours to look back at the judges behind us.  But he was quick to return to the track.

​At the first corner, he circled a couple of times before finding and committing to the right and we were off again.  That is, until he found a really stinky area that had been pushed down and cleared by the swans or geese.  So after a good couple of rolls on his back with a sniff and nibble of goose poop, he return to the track and stayed on it.

​He circled at the second corner, then proceeded ahead perhaps 20-30 yards, circled some more and could not find anything, then worked back to the corner and found a leg to the right heading straight for the left side of a big red barn.  This was a short 50 yard leg.  As he came up to the corner, he noticed the tall woodpiles in front of the barn and noises of someone working in the barn and took off galloping towards the barn.  I let him continue on and when he got to the property line asked him to search but we were perhaps 20-30 yards past the corner.  He wanted to visit the woodpiles and then as he circled to find the track, noticed the judges and tracklayer standing on the previous corner and decided they would be fun to play with.  So each time I restrained him and asked him to find it, he'd turn from one distraction and try to gallop to the opposite one.

​Finally he settled down and bit and we searched in the area between the unknown corner and the property boundary without finding anything.  Finally he headed roughly to the left of the previous leg and I started to follow him.  But he curved to the left some more and we ended up searching a wide area before finally hearing the whistle.

​My own advice to myself is that I should have marked the exact location where he shifted from tracking to galloping to the woodpile.  They were straight ahead so there was no change of directly, only a change of speed.  Had I done so, I would of been able to move back there as we searched.  While we did get back there during the extended search, perhaps I could have anchored him there until he settled down enough to focus on his nose and found the fourth leg.  But he was so wildly happy trying to get to his two distractions, I kind of doubt it.

​I knew that distractions were his weak point before I asked to be certified for this test because it was not filling.  And distractions were indeed our undoing.  But Gretzky (and I) had tons of fun on the first three legs and at least Gretzky had tons of fun trying to get to the woodpile and judges on the third corner.  Not a bad way to fail I would say.  And Gretzky does not know anything about failure, just how much fun he can have in the tracking field.

​After Gretzky's track, two dogs passed.  Congratulations to a Border Collie handled by Susan Dasch and a Shetland Sheepdog handled by Bonnie Logan.

Phase 7 is structured to introduce the dog to older tracks in the 30 to 75 minute range while giving the dog and handler to become more familiar with TD and TDU tracks.

​One quarter of the sessions have two U-shaped tracks which are run in the opposite order that they are laid.  They are run at progressively older ages and the corners are marked so the handler knows exactly where the track is located in case the dog has problems as the tracks ages.

​Other tracks are TD-like, TDU-like, and tracks with intentional contamination at the start and near the corners.

Session 7.1 Two U-Tracks Aged 20 & 35 minutes.

Gretzky was wild on the 7.1.1 start and first leg as the wind was quartering in his face and he seemed to want to track 10-15' downwind of it.  I used tension and raising my arm to try to keep him closer to the track, and he settled down nicely as he got to the corner and stayed closer for the remainder of the legs.  He tracked confidently and made both corners easily.  The last leg went onto and then off of a cow path and he handled it nicely.

​On the older 7.1.2 track, he was a little less confident.  On the first upwind leg, he stayed close to the track.  At the first corner, he notices a coyote pee post, over-marks it, but then stays focused on the scents in the area.  He spite of that distraction, he knows right where the next leg is and commits to it easily.  The next corner is near a down log which provides him a visual distraction for a moment.  

​                            7.1.1 (20 minutes)                                               7.1.2 (35 minutes)

Session 7.2 Natural Field Full TD Complexity

​It was late afternoon when I finally got to the field to lay this track and the sun would set while I aged it the required 30 minutes.  It had rained heavily that day and just recently turned into a mist, so the field was wet, even wetter than I had expected when I started to lay the track.  I used street and house-lights as landmarks because I knew it would be dusky when we ran it.  As I laid the second leg, I could see a broad puddle on my left some 30 yards away so I made the corner so I could just skim the puddle.  It turned out the 6" deep puddle was much broader than I could see from the second leg and so the third leg was very wet.  I knew Gretzky would need to learn to track through water up to his belly or so, and so I did not abandon the track - but I did expect to have to help him.

​Because of the heavy clouds, it was a dark twilight when we ran the track.  Gretzky started out confidently and tracked right up to the start of the puddle on the third leg.  He found his way the first 20+ yards in the wet by hopping from grass hump to grass hump near the track.  When he came to the broad 10-yards of deeper water, the only grass humps were too far to the side of the track and he lost confidence.  I helped him walk through the puddle until there were more grass humps and he started to pick it up again.  The corner in this wet area with grass humps was challenging but he got the general direction but not a good line on the next leg.  By now it was pretty dark, and the house light I had thought was unique 30 minutes ago was hidden in amongst numerous additional neighbors who now had their lights on.  But we stumbled in the general direction until he cut the corner and intersected the last leg - at last he was back in confidence tracking mode and easily found the glove.

​Gretzky will need more experience with wet underwater tracks -- I am sure there will more opportunities in the coming days and weeks.

7.3 Urban Lawn Intentional Contamination

​A friend laid a simple 4-corner track in a soccer field with the last turn an open turn.  Since this would be Gretzky's first official start & corner with intentional contamination (I had done one earlier by mistake), I contaminated 5 yards past the start and then sliced the first and third corners and bisected the second and fourth.  I also crossed each leg in the middle.  It was aged about 20 minutes.  

​Gretzky was distracted by some natural dog contamination right at the start and then tried to commit to my contamination.  After restraining him twice and with a little encouragement from me, he agreed to follow the track.  A school bus dislodged lots of screaming kids at the far side of the field which distracted him on the first leg.  And then shortly before reaching the first corner, he saw a small dog being walked on lead ahead of him and wanted to go play with some considerable and mindless enthusiasm.  Restraining him on a short lead until the dog walkers disappeared, he needed help starting at the corner and choosing the good track.  He became distracted on the second corner when the dog walker reappeared but after a minute or two to let them go on, he was able to get back to work.  The third corner went well - he noticed the contamination but choose the good track.  And the last corner was easy as he did not pay attention to the contamination.

Session 7.4 Urban Lawn TDU-Like Track

A Saturday afternoon track so the campus was pretty quiet but there had been numerous dog walkers crisscrossing everywhere so there was plenty of natural contamination.  The track had three "right-angle" corners and three bends to stay on the grass.

​Gretzky started nicely, searched in the area of the first sidewalk crossing but went on and found the article.  Restarting, he diagonal crossed the sidewalk and ended up cutting the first corner by intercepting the second leg.  He was true to the track with numerous excursions to investigate doggie contamination as it wrapped around the building.  When he reached the wide driveway of the parking lot, he searched on the hard surface quite a bit so I made it easy for him to find the far side and the track beyond.

Session 7.5 Aging with two U-shaped tracks.

​Natural field with two U-shaped tracks with the tracks run in the opposite order to when they were laid.  The first-run track had two right turns was run at 30 minutes and the second-run track has two left turns and was run at 45 minutes.

​The first-run track had some water on the second leg and is pictured below.  Gretzky had a good confident start (upper left photo) and stayed close to the track the whole leg.  When he curled off shortly after the first corner, he searched widely to the right, then left and then back to the right where he circled enough to intercept leg 2 and stick his nose on a footprint (picture on upper right).  Halfway along the second leg he ran into the water 2-3" deep and was reluctant to enter it.  I helped him (lower left picture) and he got a much appreciated hotdog on the other side.  He search on the second corner and committed nicely to the last leg and stayed with it until the glove (lower right photo).

​The second-run track was about 45 minutes old when he ran it.  He was confident on each leg, circled out at 20-30' and committed to the new leg as soon as he intercepted it.
​

Session 7.6 Natural Field TD-like

​I utilized a fairly narrow pasture field to put in a TD-like track for Gretzky which we aged about 40 minutes in cool sunny weather with 5-10 mph winds.  Because of the field shape and its access points, the track had 5 turns and several legs were fairly short (60 yards) but the total was right about 440.

​Gretzky started fine, lost scent at the first corner and circled right into a puddle (he might be thinking I always go through puddles) which he skirted and came around to the second leg and committed.  Second corner was quite similar.  Shortly before the third corner, he became quite distracted by coyote pee-posts as well as some of their howling coming from a distant woods.  I encouraged him forward and he overshot the corner without being fully focused on the track, searched in that area until I backed up near the fourth leg.  He remained largely focused on coyote smells as I encouraged him along that leg.  Once he got to the fifth leg, he was able to refocus on the track and finished the last two legs nicely.

​Gretzky will be taking the week off to show in the conformation ring - handsome dude that he is.

Session 7.8 Simple TDU track 35 minutes old.

There is plenty of natural contamination on our urban tracks and Gretzky's big issue for urban is distractions like dog's walking within sight, so I skipped 7.7.  So while I am focused on field tracks, I don't want to put Gretzky's urban tracking on hold; the compromise is to skip the intentional contamination tracks for a while and work on the urban distractions.

​Gretzky started nicely but immediately ​veered off to visit a pee-post so got a "Eck!" and was restrained from fully visiting the post.  He went back to work (good) but was soon pulling off to the next tree in the long row of trees to the left of the first leg.  He got back to work when restrained.  That pattern continued along most of the first leg but it required less and less from me to dissuade him from visiting the pee-post trees. 

Three trees before the first corner, a woman and her off-leash but well-behaved dog emerged into view near the building on leg 2.  Gretzky wildly wanted to visit the dog trying to gallop even though I kept him from moving with a taut line.  As the couple moved on, Gretzky was able to get back to work, sorted out the corner, and was just committing to leg 2 when the woman and dog reappeared to pick-up some poop they had left behind.  So we waited with Gretzky galloping in place until they left and Gretzky could get back to work.  Good article. 

​The track went onto the concrete sidewalk along the wide of the building and Gretzky tracked along the side of the sidewalk.  Good loss-of-scent at the next corner, some searching but not systematic, and then committed to leg 3 on the sidewalk about 3' to the side of the lawn track.  The article did not attract Gretzky until I restrained him near it but we had a good party anyways.  The roadway crossing was done well.  In the narrow gap between the trees he got distracted by pee-posts nearby but then settled into the track nicely.  After loosing the scent at the last corner, he got distracted by another dog walker about 50 yards beyond that leg.  But he was able to go back to work with just verbal encouragement and worked his way the last 50 yards to the glove.

Session 7.9 Natural Field Two U-Shaped Tracks Aged 40 & 55 minutes.

​Very windy (20-30 mph), 42, raining.  The cover was silage which had been cut at the end of the fall growing season and then manured, so it was still pretty muddy between the low sparse clumps of grass.  No treats on the first leg, then 1 on the second and two on the third.  Wind was from left to right.  In this cool wet weather, the track scent does not get as faint as quickly as in warmer-dryer seasons.  So he will need ongoing aging work later this spring.

7.9.1.  (40 minutes) Gretzky started nicely although he was looking around at something upwind in the distance.  In spite of this multitasking, he detected loss-of-scent shortly after the corner and circled around and committed to the new leg confidentiality.  This was a downwind leg, and he marched right past the corner with no obvious change of behavior;  I followed him even though I knew we were past it.  I was 35-40 yards beyond the corner before he broke off and started to search.  He was quick to circle back to me and a little behind (closer to the corner) but wasn’t able to keep going before he found something (coyote tracks?) that he committed to.  Once restrained, I encouraged him back as he circled and he committed on the last leg but 5-15’ downwind of it;  he came up to the glove nicely.  So he needs more work on corners at the end of downwind legs and staying close to crosswind legs.
 
7.9.2 (55 minutes). Gretzky was very distracted by a smelly manure pile about 10' from his start;  it took some verbal encouragement and patience to work the first 30 yards of the track; but then he settled down and focused mostly on the track.  He did get distracted by a hawk who was perched in the bushes near the second corner but once it flew away, he was able to work.  When finding the upwind leg 2, he was reluctant to commit to it but finally did settle on it.  He did work both leg 1 and 3 to the downwind side of the track but stayed close enough.

Session 7.10 Natural Field TD-Like Track

​Some wind, cloudy, cold.  Silage grass had a little spring to it because of the warmer days we had last week but was still basically dormant.  Wind was straight down the first and third legs to allow us to practice downwind corners.  Gretzky got a good start and stayed close to the track ignoring the barking dog in the distance.  Showed loss of scent right after the corner, circled and committed about 10' downwind of the second leg and tended to allow himself to get pushed further downwind - so he missed the hotdog treat in the middle of the leg and crossed the third leg about 25' to the side of the corner.  He circled up to the right and then back to the left and then tracked close to the bank next to the road so he was diverging from the track but still had some fringe to work with there.  I restrained him which made him search again and he found the third leg angle this time and stayed close to the track finding the two hotdog treats along that leg.  He showed loss of scent at the third corner, circled quickly to the left and picked up leg 4 but again downwind.  So I used tension to keep him closer to the leg.  He found the last corner and headed upwind nicely on the last leg.  The two barking dogs were straight ahead but across the street; he noticed them but stayed focused on the track all the way to the glove.

​During the track he coughed several times and did so more on the ride home.  He picked up kennel cough at the Portland shows where he earned his first major in conformation.  He is now restricted to home for a while until he is no longer contagious.  His coughing got worse for a couple of days and has mostly reduced to just a slight cough now so I am sure he will be fine.

Session 7.15 Natural Field TD-Like

​It was a moderately warm day (48) with little wind, quite cloudy and the ground is very wet.  The track was aged 60 minutes.  I put it in myself since I want to be able to help him if there are problems - he has needed a little help on his previous 2 sessions.  Also he had been resting getting over kennel cough so his antibiotics might effect his sense of smell.  I also put down intermediate articles because I had forgotten to bring along treats when I laid it.  Some combination of track age and antibiotic affects may have suppressed his scenting but not too much.    

​He started nicely but got distracted midway to the directional flag.  He got back to task and continued down the track which was downhill.  He seemed to notice the change in scent right after the corner but was wild searching for a while before settling down and tracking the second leg downslope of it about 10'.  He overshot corner 2 so I stopped close to the corner myself.  He got quite wild and playful searching and then came into me so I re-scented him.  He followed the third leg nicely and found the article to earn his treats and some playtime.  Then he was off down the track and immediately went into wild play-mode at the third corner.  After a while when I would not let him go helter-skelter everywhere, he came in for a re-scent and worked things out.  Good article indication on the fourth leg.  At the last corner, he searched diligently and quickly found the last leg which he followed diligently to the final glove.

​I think the playing at the corner is exuberance from not getting to do much the past week.  But it was made worse because he needed to concentrate to follow the hour old scent.  I should put in a 20-30 minute old track next time and see if he can focus more and commit more quickly.

Session 7.15 Extra Motivation

​This is an extra session inserted in the normal progress because I was concerned that the older track on 7.15 had been stressful for him.  This was in the same field, but aged only 40 minutes.  I had originally laid a track like this 4 days ago, but when I went to get Gretzky who had been playing with his sister Sonya, he was favoring his left front leg (apparently his play with Sonya had been too rambunctious).  So Twizzle got to run that one for fun and now he had his chance at it.

​There was one hotdog mid-leg on legs 1 and 2 and two on legs 3 & 4 and three one leg 5 to help with the motivation.  Gretzky started nicely and confidently although he wanted to be down-breeze of the cross-wind leg.  He gave a clear change of scent indication just past the corner, circled widely and fell into the downwind leg 2 with confidence.  Corner 3 was similar although he again wanted to be downwind of leg 3.  While not obvious on the Google Earth picture, the third corner was sliced by a wide cow path about 15 yards from the corner.  He shifted to the cow path, cut the corner, and nailed the fourth leg as he crossed it.  Good circling on the last corner and a confident finish on the last leg.  This was a big success as a motivational track.

Session 7.15 Extra Session #2

I planned to try to get certified the next day and wanted Gretzky to have some experience in pasture fields like what the judge might choose to lay his certification track.  The grass is taller and clumpier in the pasture field compared to the silage fields and that can cause scent pocketing and create channels for scent to flow away from the track.  Also, there are loud barky dogs nearby.  While his certification track (see separate post) was on a silage field, it was a good experience for him.  There were treats on all legs except the first.  Also there was quite a bit of water in the field, although I avoided it except for the last half of the last leg which was wet but not deep.  Also I used clippies to mark 10 yards before each corner.

​Gretzky was very distracted by the barking dogs as we approached the start flag.  I gave him time to acclimate, but he was pretty determined to run over to the fenced dogs 50 yards behind him and have a big play.  Anyways, he did start but stopped frequently on the first half of the first leg to look back at the dogs.  Finally, he settled down with my ongoing reassurance that he should go back to the track and that he could find it.  At the first corner, he circled in a distracted way, both by the still barking dogs and some geese who  choose to fly over the field at a low altitude.  But he finally got down to business, found the second leg, and was off with renewed confidence although a couple of bouts of distractions.  

​The secondcorner was a straightforward circle twice and commit to the new leg.  When that leg converged with a well-beaten-down pathway from an old track, he recognized a change of scent and had to investigate before finally deciding it was OK to follow the beaten-down path.  The third corner was overshot but he worked his way back to it and was off with the most confidence of the day.  The last corner was open and he found the new leg quickly.  As he tracked into the 2-3" very-cold water, he slowed way down and casted from side to side to find shallower spots and better scent, but stayed close to the track and found the glove. 

Nice job for an almost 11-month-old Westie.  I particularly liked that I could get him to track with the high level of distractions behind him at the start.  I think he learned that it was good to believe me when I asked him to go back to the track even when the distractions would be so very much fun.  There would be distractions on his first and second legs of his certification try the next day.

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Phase 6 is structured to allow the dog to continue to learn about handling corners by removing the flags from the corners, having three corners per track, and making a few of the corners acute while others become obtuse.  The acute turn is design to allow the dog and handler to get past the corner so the dog has to circle and search behind the handler.  These downwind-downhill acutes are an important learning tool for the dog and should be emphasized so the dog gains a full understanding of how to handle and solve corners.

​But most importantly, by removing the flags the handler will need to read her dog and recognize when her dog is on the track, changing behavior because of a corner, searching for the new leg, finding the new leg, and committing to the new leg.  Becoming an expert reader and handler does not come instantly, there will be plenty of practice.  You always have the tracklayer who can let you know where the track actually goes if the dog and you become confused.

Sessions 6.1 & 6.2 - Natural Field Three Corner Tracks.

​Session 6.1 is a straight-forward three-corner track which is essentially a short mini-TD track.  There is no flags at the corners but the tracklayer can use clippies or haystacks there if she is unsure that she can find the corner herself when following the dog.  I laid the track in an open-flat field with good cover and without any marks at the corners; but I did triangulate them well.  Gretzky stayed on the track nicely, finding some old contamination interesting in one place but giving up on it easily.  At each corner, he noticed loss of scent quickly, searched nearby, and found the new leg quickly.

​Session 6.2 is another three-corner track, but this one has one open turn and one 45 degree acute turn.  The leg approaching the acute is downwind and downhill to encourage the dog to overshoot the corner. The cover is good but short.  Gretzky at 8 months is doing a lot of marking along the track - I did not correct him about it until the last leg.  

​Gretzky gets a good start and stays close to the track until he misses a tiny treat and has to come back and search for it.  After finding it, he is distracted until I remind him to go back to the track.  Later on the first leg he is distracted by his house mates barking at him from their runs but does get back to work.  A the first corner, he makes a very small circle and then finds and commits to the new leg.  This leg is fairly short.  As we come over the crest of the hill, he loops to the right and finds the new leg which is downwind.  He is tracking nicely on this leg although he does mark when he passes a tuft or two of taller grass.  The acute corner is on a short length of steeper slope.  He stops when he is 10 feet past the corner which means I am still 10 feet upwind of the corner.  After searching optimistically for a little while, he starts to circle right until he comes to the new leg and quickly commits to it.  Longer-term, this will help him learn to fully circle at corners.  About 25 yards before the glove, he goes off track to mark a tall tuft of grass and I "Ick!" him.  He fools around a little before getting back to work and follows the track to the glove.
​

  Sessions 6.3 Urban Lawn Contamination Tracks with Path Crossings.

​I laid 6.3 in a somewhat tight area of Everett Community College.  It was 305 yards long, had four rather than three corners, natural contamination and included a total of eight transitions crossing six cement sidewalks, a gravel path, and a dirt and plant landscaped area.  Cool, damp and windy.  

​Gretzky had an easy time of the first two legs including two cement sidewalks, a gravel path and landscaped area.  He had trouble committing to the third leg since just where he would have committed to it was a sidewalk and that was enough to cause him to continue to circle and search until I took a few steps to make it easier for him.  Then halfway down the fourth leg he saw a woman walking a dog about 30 yards to the side and became completely focused on that until the completely disappeared.  Then I was able to get him to refocus on the track and he finished it nicely.  No Video today.

Session 6.5 & 6.5 Natural Field 3-Turn Tracks.

​Session 6.5 Natural Field 3-Turn Track.  This silage field was mowed short in the late fall and fertilized with dairy cow manure slurry so was fairly sparse.  The ground had frozen overnight and was just beginning to thaw slightly when the tracklayer laid the track.  The puddles were still well frozen.  The track was laid by Susen who put flags at the corners so I would know where the track was located.  Gretzky had no experience on frozen solid ground but had been in frost a time or two.  So it took him a minute to explore the track at the start before getting comfortable and following the track.  He tracks confidently up until timestamp 3:51 where a slight change of cover causes him to go back and forth - but he works his way across the frozen mud nicely finding some treats along the way.  He is wild on the second corner but quickly settles down and commits to the new leg.  He makes quick work of the last corner.  When he comes to the puddle ice, I encourage him quickly so it becomes a good experience for him.

​Session 6.6 Natural Field Track with an Acute Turn.  This pasture has a nice slope which is used to make the incoming leg to the acute downhill.  There is a very slight breeze making it downwind as well.  Thanks for Matt for laying this track without flags on the corners.  The cover is quite a bit nicer than the one for 6.5.  Gretzky tracks this with impressive confidence.  He does notice a coyote contamination track on the first leg (timestamp 1:00) but gives it up on his own.  Good change of behavior and quick search on the first corner to a good commitment onto the next leg.  The second turn is open which he handles easily.  Now he is on the downhill-downwind leg approaching the acute.  Two little rocks mark the acute turn which Gretzky sniffs and then finds the new leg.  So while I hope he will overshoot the turn, I am of course impressed and happy he stays so close to the track.  ​

  Sessions 6.4 & 6.7 & 6.8 Urban Lawns with Paths & Contamination

​Session 6.4 was at Skagit River Park utilizing the south baseball fields with their gravel access walkway.  Gretzky was focused and stayed near the track even when crossing the gravel path.  He recognized loss of scent (change of scent) shortly after each corner, circled with purpose, and found the new legs with confidence.  See left track picture below.

​Session  6.7 was a Bakerview Park and crossed the incoming roadway twice.  Gretzky sniffed around the start briefly and then found the leg with confidence.  As he approached the roadway, he went back and forth on the grass edge before proceeding across.  He found one of the tiny treats I left on the road but not the other.  He transitioned back to the grass and crossed the berm easily.  The corner was at the base of the far side of the berm and 10' from the building.  He went all the way to the building before searching and finding the new leg.  With the berm on one side and the building on the other, he was in a channel so he overshot the corner by perhaps 20 feet before breaking off.  He did a nice job circling up onto the berm, finding the new leg at the crest, and proceeding down the other side and out across the roadway.  He crossed the roadway at a small angle but searched on the other side to find the leg and committed a short way to the article.  He proceeded along the leg and overshoot the third corner to investigate the tree pee-post about 10' beyond.  I eck'ed him, and he circled nicely but around the tree to the right so I moved up to the tree so I could manage the line.  When he got to the next leg, he committed and stayed close until he reached the final article.  See the middle track picture below.

​Session 6.8 was at Shorecrest High School in Seattle utilizing the grass strips in amongst the parking lots.  Gretzky was wild at the start I think because three boys were noisily using the skateboards about 50 yards away.  But he settled down and stayed fairly close to the track with some small diversions to pee posts.  He crossed the sidewalk and the roadway with confidence.  The corner was midway between two rows of small trees about 10 yards apart - each of them was apparently an important pee post.  He wanted to visit and overmark each but I restrained him before he could get within 5' of each tree.  After a while of struggle, he settled down and found the second leg and started to track it.  But in a few yards, he started to head to the next trees only to be restrained about 5' away from each in turn.  "Back to the track", and when he did a quiet gentle "Good Boy".  This repeated for the whole length of the second leg.  He lost scent while I stood on the corner, circled around, and found the third leg nicely which was less eventful than the second.  Once on the last leg, and right after he crossed the first roadway, a woman and her small dog approached from their walk to a nearby car.  Gretzky wanted to visit the dog and so I had to hold him until she had put the dog in her car.  Once back on the track, he finished nicely.  See the right track picture below.

​            6.4                                                       6.7                                               6.8

Session 6.10 Natural Field Acute.  This track was at BP Land (Cherry Point) on a blustery day just above freezing with the wind 20-30 mph.  Since the land is hilly, it was a good time and place to put in an downhill-downwind acute.  The field had tall grass that was not cut last summer and which was mostly bend over and lying flat or him humps.  Since Gretzky had not gotten much past the acute in previous session, I used the acute extension described on MET page 105.  Gretzky started out nicely, did a small circle at the first corner and started to pick up speed on the downwind leg.  When he got to the acute, he kept going for perhaps 30' so I got all the way past the end of the extension of the acute.  He search out there and circled to both sides but not behind me.  He then wanted to keep going downwind until I had to restrain him about 40-50' past the corner.  He was miffed at me but continued to search and this time did get behind me to the right and circled across the third leg which he noticed but did not commit to.  So more circling 360 until he found the third leg again and committed to up slightly downwind of it.  He found the rest of the track easy.  See picture below.

Session 6.9 Natural Field Minimal TD

​This was in a nice silage field with foot-tall green grass mostly bent over and laying on its side.  Sunny cold conditions just above freezing with only a very gentle breeze.  Gretzky committed nicely and stayed right on the track except for 5-10' diversions to follow two of the deeper ruts in the field.  At the first corner, he recognized a change of scent within a body length, bent to the right and followed the next leg 1-2' to the downwind side.  The next corner was similar.  At the third corner, he overshoot a whole body length, circled to the right and then back to the left about 10' from the corner and committed to that leg with confidence.  He picked up speed so I jogged behind him.  That allowed him to overshoot the last corner another body length where he head bobbed to the left and then bent to the right and picked up the last leg which he tracked at a fast pace.

Sessions 6.11 & 6.12 Urban Lawns with path crossings and contamination

​Session 6.11 was at Twin Rivers Park on a cold late afternoon.  The sports field of the park are dog walkers when there are no games on the fields.  Frisbee Golfers also cross the fields.  Rather than cross the gravel roadway, I choose to cross a sand infield.  Gretzky started out well for perhaps 30 feet and then got quite distracted by many doggy contamination.  After a few minutes, I used body language and stepping forward to encourage him on.  He noticed and rejected several contamination crossings but got hung up on a second area about 20 yards before the first corner.  He got past that, searched at the corner while multi-tasking the doggy contamination there but eventually chose the good second leg.  About halfway down that leg, one of his treats had fallen into a narrow crack in the soil so he could smell it but not get it.  I had put a second drop 5' further on, so I stepped on the crack and he went back to the track and found a treat.  The next corner was easy and he was less bothered by the contamination.  At the sand infield crossing, he seemed to find the track to the side of where I walked and was not as confident.  Once he got to the other side, his confidence returned and he finished strong.

​Session 6.12 was an all lawn track on a sports field with less than normal contamination because he had rained heavily until shortly I laid the track.  The sun came out and neighborhood dog walkers emerged by the time we ran the track 25 minutes later.  He was visually distracted by the distant dog walkers but went back to work fairly quickly.  Then on the last leg, he noticed a dog and person walking on the tall dike and the dog was watching him.  He was very distracted by that until they had completely passed.  

​                                6.11                                                                     6.12

6.Extra Curbed Island Serpentine

​Phases 5 & 6 & 7 do not have any scheduled curbed serpentines.  As way of review for Gretzky, I added an extra session since he had lost confidence on the sand infield crossing during 6.11.  I utilized a fairly empty park & ride in Kirkland on a Sunday afternoon (while waiting for Twizzle's VST practice track to age).  Gretzky took 30 seconds at the first start to sniff around before settling into the long curb along the first leg.  Other than repeatedly lifting his leg (other dogs are walked in park & rides), he handled the gaps well needing restraint to give up the wrong side of one island on the first track and one on the second.

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